Last week's Norfolk jaunt took me and my better half to topering venues old and new with a none-too-Reluctant Scoop or two. Here's the top ten highlights in no apparent order.

Humpty Dumpty - Wherryman's Way IPA

It may be brewed in sleepy Reedham but this IPA has USA stamped all over it. Caramalt gold with assertive levels of Target, Centennial and Simcoe, a bomber of 7.4% hopped gorgeousness was my first beer of the holiday and the one that left the most lasting impression. When a brewer hands you his beer, when you both sip and both smile, it feels darn fine. More about this beer in a Bottled Up feature soon.

Humpty Dumpty - Little Sharpie

Drank this with the brewer at his local, drank it by the river at one of England's remotest pubs, drank it again at the pub we stayed at later in the week. I've bought bottles to drink at home for whenever I want that relaxed Norfolk feeling. Little Sharpie is a GBBF-medal-winning bitter that proved time and again to be perfectly sessionable.

Crouch Vale Sonnet

I went to Yarmouth in search of local beer and found this instead. Magnificently pale, smooth citrics and just the Saaz-ish effect that I hoped the Sonnet hop was capable of delivering.

Adnams Spindrift

On our day trip to Suffolk, a bottle of this served at the Adnams Cellar and Kitchen store in Southwold was exactly what I needed on a hot day. Just enough wheat in there made for a refreshingly soft mouthfeel alongside delicate notes of oranges and lemons.

Grain Harvest Moon

My first visit to Grain's new Norwich pub, The Plough, was a highlight of the week. Harvest Moon was one of the reasons why - sweet malts, grassy hops, lemon edges and a slightly pine finish.

Wolf Golden Jackal

After a meandering riverside walk that had me crying out for a cool, calm, low-ABV beer, this was spot-on. A full fruity hop flavour with lingering bitterness.

Woodforde's Wherry

The very definition of Norfolk session bitter. Drinkable almost everywhere you find it, it really comes into its own at the Three Horseshoes in Warham where it's served on gravity from behind the bar. And it's borderline warm. And I swear it tastes all the better for it - like warm toffee apple with a subtle spicy dusting.

Fox IPA and Fox Branthill Pioneer

Having carped on before about how more cafés ought to serve local bottled beer, it was good to see just that in Norfolk. Fox brew a solid range of bottled beer; I found their robust, marmaladey IPA at Pensthorpe Nature Reserve and their dry, fudgy Branthill Pioneer in the Stables Café at Holkham Hall. Top marks to the latter for keeping the beer in the fridge - the IPA was still good but oozed everywhere like a warm, yeasty volcano. Both beers were accompanied by one of the finest pork pies in England, from Bray's Cottage.

Aspall Draught Suffolk Cyder

Yes, I know it's from Suffolk. But it's my just-so cider; just dry enough, just refreshing enough. And there are times when a cask beer, no matter how clean-cut and calm-flavoured, just doesn't cut it. When only a crisp cider will do. And Aspall's does it perfectly.

Whin Hill Medium Sparking Cider

Once I've got a taste for cider, mind, it's hard to satiate that apple itch. A trip to Wells-next-the-Sea gives it a damn good scratch, though. In a hillside car park, you'll find cider nirvana. Jim Fergusson and Pete Lynn sell a range of carefully crafted ciders, perrys and apple juices that are made and sold on the premises. Their 'medium sparkling' is possibly the finest artisinal cider in the UK. It actually tastes apple-fleshy, it itches along and offers up just enough tartness to let you know what you're drinking.

There were plenty more besides, but they're the ones I'd keep an eye out for if you're Norfolk-Suffolk-bound. There'll be more tomorrow about the places where I drank them. >

What I know about Amarillo; 14th largest city in Texas and one-time helium capital of the world, Neil Sedaka wrote about the way to it and Virgil Gamache Farms have the registered trademark for the hop variety.

So let's concentrate on the latter. Described as 'super Cascade', the hop has a high oil content and lends citric notes tending towards grapefruit / orange whilst having a high enough alpha acid content to allow a clean bittering touch. I've collected a few Amarillo-based beers from three different countries in the last few months, so a lazy Sunday seemed an ideal time for a side-by-side tasting.

Stone Levitation is a US amber ale dry-hopped with Amarillo. Most of the Stone brews I've sampled so far have had heavyweight ABVs; Levitation lands almost featherlight at 4.4%. The aroma's hard hitting, though, breakfast juice citrics riven with hop oil. Just a waft of spicy biscuits in there too. Steady carbonation leads to a soft mouthfeel and thick lacing. As the light chestnut body warms, those hops start to feel sticky in the mouth. I'd like to try a pint of it, just to see if I become inured to the hoppiness. And then try another pint. And then another....

Back over to Blighty for a CAMRA award-winner. Crouch Vale Amarillo is cold filtered in bottles to try and capture the fresh hop feel of the cask version. It certainly has a cleaner flavour than Levitation, almost perfumed in its complexity. There's subtle honey on a sweet edge frayed by fruit, some drying orange, preserved peach, perhaps even lychee? A thinner body with little carbonation, this still carries a reasonable biscuityness that segues into slight sweetness.

Ten days ago, I'd never tried a beer by Dutch brewers De Molen. Thanks to the RateBeer European Summer Gathering I've now tried several from the bottle and even one on cask (in Huddersfield. Yes, really). Their Amarillo is another one that's been dry-hopped but has none of the Levitation's harsh edges. Instead there was a pervading sweetness; beneath lay yeasty peaches with pine and grapefruits holding back a soft caramel maltwash. At 9.2% it was remarkable for the sheer pleasure with which it hid its ABV and concentrated on delivering solid flavours. I rarely come across a bottle of this weight that offers such easy drinking - I'm glad that such accessibility and sustained flavour has been a hallmark of all the De Molen beers that I've tried.

Three beers, one hop, no cheesy puns about the song lyrics. Amarillo is a great hop variety that allows brewers plenty of space for experimentation; I'll be looking out for more examples on my travels.

I bought all three bottles from Beers Of Europe; the Stone and De Molen are stocked in limited quantity, so I'd order quickly if you fancy trying them. >

In a previous job, I had to visit our offices in Stoke. With the CAMRA beer festival venue close by, I made sure that I scheduled a trip to the Potteries at just the right time. Nowadays my Friday outings are few and far between, so this year I took a Saturday trip to Stoke instead.

With an early-ish arrival into town, I headed for the nearest Spoons. I remember The Wheatsheaf when it was fairly dingy music venue in the eighties; sticky floors, loads of pillars to stagger into and all the ambiance of an underground car park during a power failure. Now it's a light and airy pub with some great guest beers. I scooped the Riverhead Liquorice Stout simply because it sounded interesting - and what an awesome flavour it had. Bags of dusty brown liqourice with unsurprising coffee and mild chocolate hints.

It's only a two minute walk from the Spoons to the festival venue (King's Hall) so I trogged off and joined the queue. Thankfully not much of a queue, just a few hardy topers braving the chilly breeze. Full comedy marks go to the guy behind me who attempted to whistle the theme tune to 'The Littlest Hobo' but ended up on the theme tune from 'The Monkees'.

With doors open, I grabbed a glass and flew upstairs to secure a seat by the foreign bar. But there were no seats set out - AARRGH! So, back downstairs to grab a piece of the stage before any band arrived. The King's Hall is an impressive space, a stage set at one end with a balcony at the other and a superb ornate ceiling. With the brass band not due on for a while, at least the stage edge gave me somewhere to lean against.

The issue with beer festivals on their last day is that you've really got no idea what's going to be available, even if beers have been held back for that day. That doesn't bother me too much anymore; random beers have an attraction and if the choice was uninspiring I'd just hop back on the train and carry on drinking in Derby. Thankfully I could start with one of my favourite beers - so with a half of Thornbridge Kipling secured, I went for a wander around the bars to see what was left.

Surprisingly, there were quite a few of my preferred beers still knocking around. Better still, the festival seemed to gain a second after about an hour when some weighty beers suddenly seemed to become available. Every beer was in good nick and I was able to Reluctantly Scoop six new beers;

- Beowulf Killer Stout; a parched-dry stout with obvious alcohol
- Crouch Vale Wild Hop; slightly sweet, fairly crisp
- Lymestone Stone The Crows; strong autumnal ale with roasty wheat in there?
- Oakleaf I Can't Believe It's Not Bitter; citrus zest and a sweet vein
- Pictish Z Rod; a well-balanced pale ale
- Titanic Maple Smith; Captain Smith with added maple syrup; malty, sweety, not cloying

As well as the tried and trusted Thornbridge, I was happy to sink a half of Falstff Wilko, one of my favourite barley wines. It's only supposed to be brewed during the Rugby World Cup or Six Nations, so I don't know if this has been knocking around a while or Falstaff have decided to brew it for the winter. Either way, I'm glad to get another taster of it - aggressive alcohol cuts across the malt from start to finish.

I didn't find the food outlet here - it was probably lurking down one of the hospital-like corridors. Fortunately I bought a pork pie with me (a fairly crumbly Melton job from Sainsburys). Yummier were the almond croissants (from Sainsburys as well), I used to have these every time I visited Stoke when I used to work for a nearby college.

As the Audley Brass Band took to the stage, I took off to the cider bar. Plenty still left here - and I don't know if this is just a Midlands thing but the ciders and perrys all seemed to be great value in comparison to the price of strong beers. I was happy to try the Ross on Wye whisky casked dry cider again and it didn't disappoint.

To round out the festival, I took a trip upstairs to check out the foreign bar. Nothing really grabbed my fancy, though I was tempted by the Hopsinjoor that I tried back in July at Derby's fest. Sadly they'd sold out of Gouden Carolus Cuvee van der Kaiser, a bottle of which I usually buy here and drink at Christmas.

A surprisingly good festival, this; I knew the beer quality would be good but didn't honestly expect such a range of great beers to still be available on the festival's third day. By two o'clock it was busy but not cramped and still offered quick service at the bar. With my pick of the beers polished off, I had enough time left to pop down the road to Titanic Brewery's new pub, the White Star, for a decent pint of Captain Smith's alongside a bacon & cheese stuffed oatcake.

It's been enjoyable to find a festival in fine fettle on a Saturday and a couple of good pubs within sixty seconds of each other. I'm overdue a trip around the six towns; I certainly won't leave it a year before I visit Stoke again.
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